By: Kylan Watson
The Philadelphia Eagles started their 2021 season with a lot of questions. The focus of those questions were about if Head Coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts are the cornerstones of this franchise or are they just flashes in the pan? They got their chance to answer those questions as they squashed the Atlanta Falcons 32-six to earn their first victory of the young season.
Early in the game the Eagles looked a little out of sorts as their defense could not stop the rushing attack of Atlanta. They gave up 86 rushing yards by halftime. Despite Atlanta having the rushing attack working. Philly did not allow them to score any touchdowns in the redzone and that prove to be the difference in the game. Atlanta got a couple of field goals and Philly converted their red zone opportunities scoring two touchdowns.
Jalen Hurts looked like a true number one quarterback against the Falcons. He took care of the ball and took full advantage of mistakes made by Atlanta. He completed 27/35 passes for 264 yards and completed three touchdown passes. For his first touchdown pass he connected with rookie wide receiver Devonta Smith.
On what impressed him about Hurts, “His will to win. He doesn’t stop. He is locked in. He is a field general out there,” said Eagles running back Miles Sanders.
The former Alabama teammates had it working from the get-go. The Eagles will need that connection to be strong if they want to have success this season. Smith had six receptions for 71-yards. At least for this first game both Hurts and Smith lived up to the hype. However, they will need to answer the bell again as they prepare for the tough defense of the San Francisco 49ers next week.
On what his team can improve on, “How much left that we haven’t seen? Shoot that was just game one. We have a lot more left,” said Sirianni.
This was a dominant showing for an Eagles team that many people were lukewarm on. They dominated in all facets of the game. If it wasn’t Hurts or Smith it was the defensive front that was dominating the Falcons. The front seven of Philly were able to get three sacks and were in the face of Matt Ryan all day. The Eagles will need to have another great performance on all sides of the ball if they want to get to 2-0 against the 49ers next week.
